Robel Phillipos , a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev 's , was convicted Tuesday on two counts of lying to federal agents investigating the 2013 bombing , according to the U.S. attorney 's office .

Prosecutors said Phillipos lied to investigators about being in Tsarnaev 's college dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth after the bombing .

He faces up to eight years in prison on each count and a $ 250,000 fine . He will be sentenced January 29 .

After the verdict , U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said thousands of citizens assisted law enforcement in identifying and tracking down the suspects following one of the most significant events in Boston 's modern history .

`` A federal jury concluded that Robel Phillipos did just the opposite , '' she told reporters . `` He lied to agents when he could have helped . He concealed when he could have assisted . It is a crime to lie to law enforcement agents , and that is why Robel Phillipos was charged and why the jury found him guilty today . But this case also reminds us that our public safety network relies on every citizen in the commonwealth . ''

Defense attorneys Derege Demissie and Susan Church said their client will appeal the verdict .

`` Basically ... the jury found that he was present in the room while others did what they did in this case , '' Church said .

Defense lawyers argued that Phillipos , a Boston native , was a `` frightened and confused 19-year-old '' when authorities questioned him several times in the days following the April 15 , 2013 , bombing , which killed three people and wounded more than 260 .

`` I do n't believe that Robel Phillipos has ever been more angry at a person than he was at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev when Robel found out that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev did what he did in this case , '' Church said after the verdict . `` He was absolutely mortified . It was an unbelievable feeling of shock and betrayal that somebody that he knew could commit such atrocious and horrible acts . ''

Police believe Tsarnaev and his older brother , Tamerlan Tsarnaev -- who was killed by police after the attacks -- set off the two bombs near the race 's finish line .

Phillipos attended high school with the younger Tsarnaev at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge , Massachusetts .

According to court documents , Phillipos had n't seen or talked to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for at least two months before the bombing . He was taking a semester off from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and was only on campus the night of April 18 , 2013 , for a seminar .

His attorneys said that Phillipos was under tremendous pressure when he was interrogated and did n't have a lawyer at the time to help him .

Phillipos ' presence on campus that night is a case of `` sheer coincidence and bad luck , '' the defense lawyers said .

Phillipos was living with his mother , an Ethiopian who immigrated to the United States in the 1980s and is now employed as a social worker .

In July , a federal jury found another friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev 's guilty of obstructing the investigation into the attack .

The jury found Azamat Tazhayakov guilty of obstructing justice and conspiring to obstruct justice in connection with the removal of a backpack with potential evidence from Tsarnaev 's dorm room after the bombings . Tazhayakov will be sentenced November 19 .

A third friend of Tsarnaev 's , Dias Kadyrbayev , pleaded guilty in August to conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede the bombing investigation . He will be sentenced November 18 .

Prosecutors said Phillipos repeatedly lied to investigators when he denied that he entered Tsarnaev 's dormitory room and saw Kadyrbayev remove a backpack containing fireworks on the evening of April 18 , 2013 .

At trial , prosecutors showed that Phillipos saw the images released by the FBI of the suspected bombers and recognized Dzhokhar Tsarnaev . On April 18 , Phillipos went with Tazhayakov to Tsarnaev 's dormitory room , where he and Tazhayakov watched as Kadyrbayev searched through Tsarnaev 's belongings and found a backpack containing fireworks .

When Kadyrbayev , Tazhayakov and Phillipos left Tsarnaev 's room at 10:30 p.m. , Kadyrbayev removed Tsarnaev 's backpack containing fireworks , a jar of Vaseline , and Tsarnaev 's laptop computer , prosecutors said . Later that night while Tazhayakov and Phillipos watched the manhunt for the Tsarnaevs on television , Kadyrbayev discussed getting rid of the backpack with the fireworks with them .

Kadrybayev placed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev 's backpack in a garbage bag and dropped it in a trash bin outside their apartment . The FBI recovered the backpack a week later at a landfill .

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are both nationals of Kazakhstan who were temporarily living in the United States on student visas while attending the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth .

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Robel Phillipos convicted of lying to federal agents in Boston Marathon bombing probe

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He is a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev 's

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Federal jury found another friend , Azamat Tazhayakov , guilty of obstructing justice

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A third friend , Dias Kadyrbayev , pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct justice